Summary

The Cutter's Widow is a heartrending novel, set in Saint Paul, Minnesota, against the backdrop of 1915 urban poverty. Ella Byrne is a young widow, gripped by grief and struggling to support herself. She becomes a milliner's apprentice, a baby broker and partners with a local pickpocket. Ultimately, she becomes the focus of attention in a murder investigation by one of Saint Paul's first female police officers. This is story of the devastations of grief and poverty and the quest to make a difference in the world.